In response to the coronavirus pandemic, several town organizations have followed the University in canceling, postponing, or virtually conducting previously planned events. Over recent days, local schools and businesses have enacted a slew of new procedures.

A new FAQ page on the University website has been created to address student concerns about moving out and storing belongings. Beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, all students will be eligible to pick up free packing supplies — four boxes and two rolls of tape each — from Dillon Gym, and will be permitted to leave unwanted items in their rooms to be discarded or donated.

After the kerfuffle that was the Iowa Democratic caucuses, the merits of placing one state in such an important position are increasingly questionable. The political importance of the votes in Iowa and New Hampshire seems outlandish, given their population size and overwhelming whiteness.

In the spring of 2019, students found similarities between the 2018 and 2019 room draw times, uncovering randomization errors in the University room draw process. An article published in the ‘Prince’ on March 3 addressed these issues, citing students’ “concerns about the draw,” but failed to acknowledge the changes that are effective starting this year. In reality, since the ad hoc data analysis, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) has worked extensively in conjunction with Student Housing to fix randomization and improve Room Draw for 2020.

Just a few weeks ago several multi-way ties in multiple Iowa caucus districts had to be decided by coin toss. Two years ago, the race for the majority-determining seat in Virginia’s House of Delegates tied and was decided by pulling a name out of a hat. A randomly selected slip of paper determined the state’s entire legislative agenda for two years! Evidently, your one vote has the power to change history, and it ought to be a responsible one.

By Wednesday morning my microeconomics midterm exam had been postponed just before it was scheduled to start, and all I wanted to do was go somewhere to let out all my frustration with this week. I wanted to go to the middle of Poe Field and yell until my vocal cords could produce only silence. I wanted to teleport to my dog at home and just nap while holding onto her. I wanted to take my microeconomics midterm exam as scheduled and just absolutely crush it more than I had ever wanted to take any other exam in my life. I wanted my biggest worries this week to be intertemporal budget constraints and whether the salvation of bears is a normal good just like they had been about a week ago.

On Wednesday evening at 7:46 p.m., the University announced all undergraduate students “who are able” must return home and stay there until the end of the semester. Dean of the College Jill Dolan’s and Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun’s letter, sent to all students, enumerated specific criteria students would have to meet in order to remain on campus. Students who do not fall into these criteria and register with the University will lose prox access by March 19.

In the wake of the University’s decision to suspend in-person classes, the Graduate Interclub Council (GICC) and the Interclub Council (ICC) have announced that all 11 eating clubs will shut down beginning this Friday. The clubs will be closed to members and remain locked at all times until April 5, which the University has been tentatively set as the last day of online classes.

Five total attendees of a Feb. 29 private party in Princeton have now tested positive for the coronavirus. Three of the patients are Pennsylvania residents, whose test results were announced Wednesday, March 11, according to Planet Princeton.

The Ivy League Presidents announced on March 11 that all Ivy League athletic events through the remainder of the academic year will be cancelled due to further developments in the outbreak of COVID-19.

On Tuesday night, students distributed an online petition calling for the University to reevaluate this semester’s midterm exams, given that they coincide with drastic and ongoing efforts to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. We support this petition and enjoin the University to act on its demands.

Last night, two online petitions began circulating among community members. At around 7 p.m., students began spreading a petition requesting that the University alter its midterm examination policy. By 10 p.m., other students began to spread a petition requesting that the University refrain from “forced evictions” — reflecting anxiety caused by certain peer-institutions’ actions.